




















COEffilGHT DEPOSITS 














The 

NECKLACE OF 
JEWELS 






“HE WAVED THEM BACK AND FORTH” 


(Page 85) 


SAM. 





Copyright, 1918, 

By The Page Company 

All rights reserved 


First Impression, August, 1918 


THE COLONIAL PRESS 
C. H. SIMONDS CO., BOSTON, U. S. A. 


SEP -3 1S13 

©CI.A5()16.'55 


I 


TO 

Mother Jewel 





THE CONTENTS 


The Opal 1 

The Pearl 27 

The Emerald 51 

The Diamond 77 

The Topaz 


99 





THE ILLUSTRATIONS 


' He waved them back and forth ' 


PAGE 


Frontispiece 


/ 


“ She saw looking at her through the trees a 
glorious youth 

They danced through the night ” 

** Suddenly he noticed their unusual beauty ” 

‘‘ They gathered a bucketful of her tears ” 

“ He quickly hid behind a rock ” 

‘‘ They landed right in the pool ” 

He stopped abruptly almost on top of the 
Old Man ” 


47 

67 

70 

95/ 
/ 


109 


The 

OPAL 




\ 


0 



The Necklace of Jewels 



OESIDE the Palace gate lay a 
deep, dark and treacherous 
forest. So dark and treacherous was 
it, that only a few of the hardiest and 
bravest dared to penetrate its aisles 
of close-growing oaks and low-hang- 
ing evergreens. Within a short dis- 
tance of the edge, underbrush grew 
so thick and tangled that progress 
was nearly impossible; for this was 
in the days of long, long ago, before 


THE OPAL 


modern science had come to the aid 
of mankind. As few of those who 
went in ever returned, it began to 
be told that fairies claimed and 
guarded this mighty forest. Many 
a returning one would tell of Dryads 
that had chased him until he stum- 
bled, and then had fallen upon him 
and beaten him. So, more and more, 
the forest came to be avoided by all, 
except those who must go, at least a 
little way, into it, for food and fuel. 
These always went in broad daylight, 
and returned as quickly as possible. 

So, unharmed through all the years 
that it takes for a wee, tiny baby fairy 
to “ grow up,” little Moonbeam of the 
Forest laughed and sang and danced 
across her pool, protected by the giant 
oaks and smiled upon by the stars. 
She was never frightened by any 


THE OPAL 



mortal, and the beasts of the forest 
she loved, and they, in turn, loved her. 
Did she not light their way when they 
came for long, life-giving drinks at 
her pool? She often teased Kago, 
the lion. She tangled his mane or 
tickled his nose, then danced, laugh- 
ing, away, when he opened his mouth 
in mock anger. She pulled his ears 
just to hear his roar sing through the 
forest. Then, frightened, she would 
put her hands over her ears and hide. 
She would smooth the sleek coat of 
Haji-Mihu, the panther. She loved 
his soft purr and quiet footsteps, and 
eyes green like her own pool. Many 
times she rode through the forest 
perched on his back; but not too far, 
for even little fairies can get lost in 
their native forest. But some of the 
beasts frightened her, even after she 

5 


THE OPAL 


became a big, big fairy. Taboo, the 
elephant, was so huge and grey, and 
had such enormous feet. One tram- 
ple of those feet and where would 
little Moonbeam be? She took good 
care to keep out of his way. The 
hoot owl and the jackal made such 
terrible noises. 

But Moonbeam had strong and 
staunch friends in the Dryads that 
guarded the sturdy and ancient oaks 
around her pool. When night was 
done. Moonbeam would creep deep 
into the arms of one of these trees. 
Curled up like a little golden spider- 
web, she would sleep contentedly all 
through the day until her playtime 
at evening. Like any human child, 
she was happy and gay, and romped 
and danced with her strange play- 
mates. But although a fairy’s child- 



hood is much longer than that of any 
mortal, little Moonbeam finally began 
to grow up and to feel the responsi- 
bilities of her place. 

You thought a fairy had nothing 
to do but to dance in the moonlight; 
to weave the silver webs that catch 
the evening dew; to sit on mushroom 
stools and banquet. Now, ’fess up, 
didn’t you? Ah, but you were sorely 
mistaken. Of course they do these 
things too; they dance and spin 
silver webs, and they do raise toad- 
stools. But why do you suppose the 
stools are always in a ring? To sit 
on after the dance? Absurd. Who 
ever felt tired at a dance? There 
are no wallfiower fairies, because 
every one dances in a big ring to the 
grasshopper music. You can’t im- 
agine what those stools are for? Be- 

7 


THE OPAL 


fore the dance, the fairies always 
have a business meeting. There! 
Who else would color the flowers, 
clear away dead leaves, care for the 
birds, comfort the trees in cold 
weather, and even shine the stars, 
and keep fresh the Milky Way? Poor 
foolish scientists don’t know any 
more about it than we do. 

Well, I am telling you that the 
fairies have a regular organization. 
Little tiny fairies with pointed pur- 
ple caps take care of the violets. 
How they get into and out of green- 
houses is a mystery to me; but, of 
course, there are always keyholes. 
The most beautiful are the rose 
fairies. You don’t believe such non- 
sense? That is why your rose gar- 
den did so poorly last year. Ask any 
wise old gardener. The fairies who 



THE OPAL 


tend the stars have to leave the earth 
in daylight to be sure to reach the 
stars in time. They dress as birds. 
Haven’t you ever seen them on a 
summer day, sailing away way up 
into the blue sky until you can’t see 
them any more? They have gone to 
the stars. There are ever so many 
kinds of fairies. 

So, you see, little Moonbeam did 
have her work in life, though it took 
her a long, long time to realize it. 
In some ways, little fairy girls are no 
wiser than little mortal girls. As 
long as Moonbeam was petted and 
spoiled and had some one to play 
with her, the pool could be full of 
sticks and leaves, and who would 
care? Nobody at all, until Miss 
Moonbeam wanted to dance; then, 
because the pool was clouded and 


THE OPAL 




ugly, Miss Moonbeam would sulk for 
a while. But she was a bright little 
thing, and she would clear up all the 
rubbish, and for a week, or even a 
month, the pool would be clear and 
beautiful again. 

One day came great news. A ball 
was to be given, the largest ever 
held in the forest. And Moonbeam 
was invited! Summer Breeze, a 
cousin to the Greek Mercury (he 
was always pleased to inform you), 
special messenger to the King, 
dropped a green leaf on her pool. 
The invitation was traced in finest 
lines. Little Moonbeam wanted to 
run and throw her arms around the 
messenger, but she thought better 
of it. Summer Breeze can be very 
lazy, but when he is in a hurry, he 
becomes a regular gale. 

10 


THE OPAL 




“ And if I provoked him,” thought 
Moonbeam, “ he might become 
angry and we would have a cyclone, 
and that might hurt my poor Dry- 
ads.” 

From that time on, the poor pool 
was in constant agitation from 
Moonbeam’s preparations. She 
would stop her spinning every two 
breaths to skip across ruffled waters, 
to jump up and down in the middle 
of the pool, and then back she would 
fly to her work. Next she would 
dance across the trees and shake 
them out of their sedate rest. 
Finally the Oldest Oak (and you may 
know he had lived for centuries) 
would raise a knotted hand in pro- 
test. 

“ My child, my child,” warned 
the Oak, “you will never be ready 
11 


THE OPAL 


for the ball. Can you not spin 
quietly? ” 

“ ril be ready. I’ll be ready. My 
dress is of silver and gold spun to- 
gether. Great-great-grandmother 
Moon sent the threads.” 

Shaking her golden locks, she 
would dance back to her spinning. 
Frightened a little by the Oak, she 
would spin steadily until some of her 
animal friends came to the pool to 
drink. Then she would be off again 
to tell the whole story over again, 
whether they had heard it fifty times 
or not. 

If you think any modern girl is 
busy with her first dance, when she 
has merely dressmakers, hair-dress- 
ers, manicurist, telephone calls, flow- 
ers, invitations, men and so on to 
bother her; if, I say, you think she 


THE OPAL 


is busy, consider what it would be if 
in addition to all this she had to 
weave and make her own dress, keep 
clean her own home, and invent, very 
carefully, her own dance. But 
Moonbeam had no nerves! She 
lived out of doors, and her work was 
her breath and her life, even if she 
did sometimes neglect it. 

At last the great night came. Lit- 
tle Moonbeam set off to the dance 
chaperoned by two of the Dryads. 
The Oldest Oak promised to guard 
the pool, and to stay awake until 
Moonbeam returned so he could hear 
all about her wonderful time. But, 
to tell the truth, he was nodding be- 
fore Moonbeam was half way to the 
dance. 

When the little maid of the forest 
first beheld the ball she held her 

13 


THE OPAL 




breath. A large, clear space lay be- 
fore her. It was covered with soft- 
est green moss. Around the outer 
edge was a circle of fairy stools, 
thousands and thousands of them, 
soft, brown and comfortable-looking. 
In the centre of the circle was the 
stump of an old oak. On top of this 
were more stools, surrounding a 
throne. Here sat the King with his 
Court. Everywhere the wings of the 
fairies shimmered and shone, for 
the moon was filling the glade with 
her glorious light. 

The King smiled graciously when 
he saw Moonbeam of the pool, and 
he beckoned to her. She made her 
bow and looked shyly up into his 
wrinkled face. Kindly he spoke to 
little Moonbeam. 

“ So this is the great-great-grand- 
14 


THE OPAL 


daughter of my old friend the Moon. 
What a grown-up person she is! ” 

Hardly was Moonbeam settled 
when all the seats were filled and the 
business began. Each group of fair- 
ies had a report to make. Here was 
a sick beastie, and there an uprooted 
tree, or perhaps a star frightened 
by a passing comet. Moonbeam, in- 
spired by all the work going on 
around her, firmly resolved never, 
never to neglect the pool again. 

But the resolve was shortly for- 
gotten when the business was over 
and the fairies began to enjoy them- 
selves. Moonbeam, because of her 
shy beauty and her wonderful danc- 
ing, was greatly sought. Such a 
glorious, glorious time she had! She 
scarcely took time to eat from the 
silver banquet cloths. But when at 

15 


THE OPAL 




last the keeper of Haji-Mihu sidled 
up and awkwardly offered to help 
her on her way through the for- 
est, she accepted with a weary sigh. 

When she reached home, she had 
to shake and scold the Oldest Oak 
because he did not stay awake to 
hear all about her wonderful time. 
When in the midst of a yawn, little 
Moonbeam (now no longer little) 
fell over, asleep in all her dancing 
finery, no one had the heart to waken 
her. So she slept on through the 
breathless forest day which was her 
night. 

As time went on. Moonbeam grew 
a little wiser, a little quieter, but she 
lost none of her sweetness. She 
would sit near the edge of her pool 
in the darkness of the forest night, 
and gaze at her reflection in the 
16 


iSfe the OPAL 

water below. Then longings would 
creep into her heart that all her 
dancing did not satisfy. When 
Spring began to call to the land her 
heart ached with a pain she could 
neither describe nor explain. Her 
dancing lost the old abandon. The 
Oldest Oak nodded wisely and 
watched carefully. Often he would 
call Moonbeam to him. He told her 
tales of ancient years, or stories of 
himself, and the two grew to be 
closer and closer friends. 

One night, following his advice. 
Moonbeam had gone to the further 
edge of the pool to clean up the lar- 
gest spring. 

“Work,” said the Oldest Oak to 
himself, wisely, “ work may help 
her.” 

Work she did that night, long, 
17 


THE OPAL 




hard and furiously. The pool was 
not touched by her feet except in 
the one spot where she dug and car- 
ried and coaxed and cleared the 
choked spring. 

Her golden hair had fallen across 
her shoulders and face, but she was 
so eager she did not push it back. 
Neither did she notice the first pale 
saffron in the sky, that heralded day. 
Suddenly, as she looked up from her 
finished work, she saw looking at 
her through the trees a glorious 
youth. His hair was more golden 
than her own, his eyes more blue 
than violets; and he was carrying a 
sword. They stood and looked for a 
long, breath-taking, heart-breaking 
minute. Then, with a skip and a 
dance, lighter than it had been for 
many a long day. Moonbeam was 
18 



“ SHE SAW LOOKING AT HER THROUGH THE 
TREES A GLORIOUS YOUTH” 



THE OPAL 




back in the arms of the Oldest Oak. 

That night the pool was again 
gladdened by Moonbeam’s dance. 
Across, over, back, up and down, 
up and down, a veritable net- 
work of silver was her path on 
the ruffled surface of the pool. 
The dark green water turned to 
broken emerald and topaz, while 
the silent forest looked on, its still- 
ness composed of myriad small 
noises. Over and back, around and 
around danced Moonbeam, till she 
paused, breathless. 

At break of day she caught a 
handful of water, tossed it over her 
head and watched it break into a 
thousand dull pearls against the pale 
sunrising. Again, she caught sight 
of her knight through the falling 
drops. 


19 


THE OPAL 


Each morning she waited a little 
longer, and Sir Sunbeam, Knight of 
the Forest, came a little earlier. The 
friendliness grew and flamed to sud- 
den love, that burned and dimmed 
to burn the stronger. Moonbeam 
thought and dreamed nothing else. 
She thrilled over his bravery in dar- 
ing the dark and gloomy forest, 
where his presence was necessary, 
but disliked. The heavy under- 
growth tore at him and tried to hold 
him back with clutching hands. 
Many of the beasties hated him. 
Sunbeam’s lot was not easy, but for 
those few minutes each dawn all was 
bearable. 

When the Moon was new and thin 
in the heavens. Moonbeam would 
sometimes wait for his farewell at 
the edge of the pool. 

20 


THE OPAL 


“ Teach me to dance,” he would 
beg. 

Silently she would point to the 
west. 

“ If I might take you there! ” He 
spoke longingly. “It is so beauti- 
ful.” 

“ Yes, but so bright! ” Moonbeam 
would clasp her hands over her eyes 
and shudder. 

Always when they parted, they 
promised “ Some day.” But they 
knew in their hearts it could never 
be. But they hid their tragedy, so 
small against the bigger tragedies 
of life and death, kill and be killed, 
that went on within the forest. Like 
all forest folk, they were simple, and 
their joys and sorrows must be ac- 
cepted as they came. 

Then one night, after he had said 
21 


THE OPAL 




good-bye, Sir Sunbeam came rushing 
back. 

“Moonbeam, my Moonbeam, to- 
night we may dance. See, I was too 
late. The Gates of Sunset are clos- 
ing even now. I heeded not the 
flaming signals. I would only be lost 
in the forest, so I have come back to 
you. We shall dance tonight.” 

“ You know what it means? ” she 
asked in a small, small voice. 

“ Yes,” he answered, simply. 

“ All because I kept you overlong.” 
She bowed her head in her hands, 
and two tears slowly slipped between 
her Angers. Then her mood quickly 
changed. “ But tonight is ours, at 
least. Let us dance and dance — ” 

Together, hand in hand, they 
danced through the night. Slowly, 
at first, around the edges of the pool, 
22 



“THEY DANCED THROUGH THE NIGHT” 










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THE OPAL 




making little rainbow splashes here 
and there; gradually more and more 
furiously, wilder and wilder till the 
pool was greatly ruffled, and the 
watching trees shook in amazement. 
After the last furious whirl. Sir Sun- 
beam sank to the surface of the 
water. 

“ I feel cold and weak,” he smiled 
at her. “ It is so dark.” 

“ Oh, my love,” cried Moonbeam, 
anguish showing in her dark eyes, 
“ why must we spend our lives so, 
you in the day when I can not see, I 
in the dark where you can not live? 

“ I fear it is too late, even now. 
One last kiss — ” 

She clasped him in her arms, and, 
side by side, they sank slowly, slowly 
down through the cool dark waters 
of the pool. 


23 


THE OPAL 



Centuries later, men came to the 
forest with singing sticks and shin- 
ing blades. They killed and drove 
back the beasties with the singing 
sticks, and destroyed the great trees 
with the shining blades. Shouts and 
noises rang through the once silent 
forest; fires shone at night. Civiliza- 
tion had come to the mighty forest. 

One day, just at sunset, a group 
of men paused to rest. Said one, 

“Let’s build our fire and camp 
here for the night. Must be a spring 
near. The ground seems sort of 
damp.” 

“ I’ll see if I can find it,” said an- 
other. 

“ I’ll look for firewood,” said a 
third. 

“ Look at this huge oak,” he sud- 
denly called. “Funny how it fell. 

24 


THE OPAL 



It will do for firewood. Why,” he 
continued as his ax bit into the wood, 
“ it is merely a shell. The heart is 
all crumbled. What a shame! ” 

“ I could find no spring,” said the 
second, returning. “ Perhaps we 
can find water, if we dig here.” 

In the digging, a huge lump of 
soft earth was upturned. 

“Whew, isn’t it pretty! ” The 
men gathered around. 

There, imbedded in century-old 
dirt, was a stone of fire and water, 
moonlight and sunshine, tears and 
laughter and love, the gem of dark- 
ling forest and glorious dawn, the 
First Opal. 


25 








The 

PEARL 










T^ID you ever sit by the sea, and 
hear the waves come in? 
First a big one comes up, swish, ker- 
flop, and then sssh, out it slides 
again. But before it can go very far 
another comes pounding in on top 
of it. So it goes, one after another, 
so quickly and yet so sedately that 
there is almost no break. 

This continual advance and re- 
treat produces a steady sound. I 
sat one day, dreaming beneath a 
June sun, listening idly to this 

29 


THE PEARL 

pounding of the waves, when I 
noticed, above their roar, a thin, 
faint, singing sound. I listened in- 
tently, and to my great surprise, I 
discovered it to be a sort of sing-song 
voice of the waves. If you listen 
closely you, too, may hear wonderful 
tales, for this is what the waves told 
me. 

“Years and years ago,” so the 
waves began, “lived a mermaid, 
deep in the depths of the ocean. 
Now, of course, you are a poor mor- 
tal,” you see, they knew me, “so 
you can know nothing of mermaids. 
This particular mermaid was the 
daughter of a King. Her home was 
built of corals, red and pink and 
white, arranged in beautiful halls 
and spacious rooms. The Mermaid 
Princess (she had another name, but 

30 


thepeael 

she was always called the Mermaid 
Princess) would swim through these 
halls in the sea-green water, just as 
you walk through your home in the 
colorless air. Sea water was the air 
of the Princess. 

“ However, she could do a thing 
which you can not. By taking a deep 
breath and flipping her tail she could 
float upwards through the top of her 
home (they had no roofs, for it 
never rains in the bottom of the sea) 
and out and up and up. I suppose 
your lack of a tail is what keeps you 
from floating off so. However, the 
Princess didn’t float often. She was 
quite a young mermaid, and it tired 
her. Besides, she preferred to walk 
on Arm, hard sand and gaze up 
through her green air-water toward 
the top. Near the top, the water be- 

31 



THE PEARL 



came lighter and lighter until it was 
a beautiful shade of blue, much like 
your sky. The Princess knew that 
if she floated up ever so far, she 
would Anally pierce this sky, and pop 
out into an atmosphere that would 
dry all the water from her face. She 
did not like this very well, and only 
stayed a tiny while when she did go. 
Perhaps, come to think of it, it is 
just as well you can’t fly, because if 
you popped through the blue sky you 
wouldn’t like the results any better 
than the mermaid did. 

“ One day, as the Princess was sit- 
ting in the seaweed garden before 
her father’s Palace, a merman went 
by. He saw the beautiful Mermaid 
Princess, and then and there he fell 
in love with her. That was disas- 
trous for him, because, you see, he 


32 


THE PEARL 


wasn’t a Prince or a wealthy suitor, 
or anything like that; he was just a 
merman. However, he spoke to the 
Princess and he soon found out that 
he had as good a chance as any one, 
for the Princess loved no one; no one, 
that is, except the King, her father. 

“ That was just where the trouble 
began. The King was terribly angry 
when he learned that a merman had 
aspired to wed his daughter. 

“ ‘ What? ’ he rumbled, sounding 
for all the world like the sea when it 
is angry. ‘My daughter marry a 
merman? The idea! She must have 
jewels and a fine house, and sea 
horses to drive, and sea-lions for 
pets.’ (Sea-lions are very scarce 
and expensive. ) ‘ My daughter is a 

Princess.’ 

“ This made the mermaid very 

33 


THE PEARL 


sad, for she thought the merman was 
very nice. At first she wasn’t sure 
she wanted to wed him, but as soon 
as her father forbade it, then she 
wanted to very much. 

“ But if all this made the Princess 
sad, it made the merman much, 
much sadder, for, you see, he loved 
the Princess. So he went to his cave 
(you remember he was just a mer- 
man, not a Prince or anything) and 
sat down with his head in his hands. 
He thought and he thought, and he 
wondered and he wondered what he 
could do to win the Princess. At 
last he hit upon a plan. What do you 
think it was? He said, 

“ ‘ I will study, and become great 
and wise, like earth mortals. Then 
the King will see how unusual I am, 
and will allow me to marry the Prin- 

34 


the PEARL ^ 

cess, even though I have no money.’ 

“ Poor, poor merman, he did not 
know how much more the ignorant 
old King would hate him, because he 
was wise. As he did not know this, 
he set to work. As it turned out, it 
was lucky for him that he did. How 
did he learn to read? That I can not 
tell. But I do know how he hap- 
pened to own books. 

“ One day, quite a while before 
this story began, the merman had 
noticed a big cloud floating along the 
sky. He often saw them go by, and 
he had heard they were called floats 
or boats or something like that. But 
he had never seen one act like this 
one. It suddenly broke in two. 
From its outer edges, smaller pieces 
began to float in every direction; 
some even came downward. While 

35 



THE PEARL 


he stood gazing a big lump floated 
past him and settled at his feet He 
looked and found two books. One 
was just a book, maybe it was a dic- 
tionary I couldn’t say, but the other 
was the most wonderful book he 
could have found had he searched all 
the libraries all over the world. Not 
only was it wonderfully written, but 
it contained all knowledge and all 
truth. It was a Bible. 

“ Now the merman got out his two 
books and studied and studied. But 
the maid (sometimes she felt like a 
mermaid, and not a Princess, at all) 
had no books. She grew tired of all 
her playthings. Her comrades 
seemed uninteresting after having 
known the merman. The Princess 
grew thinner and thinner, and she 
was really quite slim to begin with. 

36 



THE PEARL 




She began to take long swims, and 
each day she would wander farther 
and farther from the Palace. Her 
father was too busy to notice. He 
only saw that the merman had 
ceased coming, and was satisfied. 

“ One day a whole school of little 
fish swam hurriedly and nervously 
into the King’s council chamber. 
This was against all rules of the sea, 
and the King was greatly angered. 
But the fish were too excited to 
notice his anger. 

“ ‘ Oh, sire,’ they called. Then all 
began talking at once, and they 
made such a jumble of their story 
that the King became furious. 

“ ‘ Silence,’ he thundered. 

“The fish became quiet immedi- 
ately. Then one little fellow came 
forward meekly. 

37 


THE PEARL 


“ ‘ Good sire,’ quoth he, ‘ we were 
learning our lesson (fish go in 
schools, but have no teacher) in a 
little glen of seaweed, when your 
daughter swam past us. She was 
screaming. We were terribly fright- 
ened, but we started to follow. We 
couldn’t keep up, she was going too 
fast. Before we could catch her the 
sea monster,’ here the little fish 
shuddered from head to tail, ‘ rushed 
past us. Sire, I fear by this time he 
has caught the Princess. We were 
too little to help, so we came here, at 
once, to tell you.’ 

“With a roar, the King rushed 
from the room, scattering the fish 
right and left. He called his tail 
guard, and, following paths known 
only to those of the deep, was soon in 
pursuit of the sea monster. 

38 


THE PEARL 


“But he was too late. The sea 
monster had reached his own cave, 
and the Mermaid Princess was im- 
prisoned within. 

“ ‘ Oh, father, father, save me! ’ 
she wailed. 

“ ‘ He never can save you,’ 
growled the sea monster. Now this 
sea monster is indeed a terrible crea- 
ture, worse than any dragon you 
ever heard of. He has a hundred 
arms, and his face, mostly mouth, is 
set right in the middle of all his 
arms. All the sea people hate and 
fear him. Sometimes they hate him 
most, and sometimes they fear him 
most; it depends on whether he is far 
away or near by. 

“ The King realized how useless it 
was to try to reach his daughter past 
all those arms. They would crush 
39 


THE PEARL 


him and his guard all at the same 
time. So, though it hurt his pride, 
he rushed madly to the cave of the 
merman. 

“ ‘ Oh, merman,’ he said, ‘ you are 
wise. You have book knowledge. 
Save my daughter and you shall wed 
her.’ 

“ ‘ Wed her, I will, gladly. But 
from what must I save her? ’ 

“ The King told him what had hap- 
pened. The merman was so dis- 
tracted that he rushed away at once 
to the cave of the sea monster, leav- 
ing his learning, as well as his com- 
mon sense, behind him. As he 
neared the cave he heard the moans 
of the Princess. Single-handed, he 
rushed against the sea monster. A 
terrible struggle followed, but a very 
short one. The King and his guard 

40 



THE PEARL 



rushed up just in time to save the 
merman from being devoured by the 
monster. 

“ ‘ So, so,’ sneered the King, ‘ is 
that all your learning amounts to? I 
am even wiser than you.’ 

“ The youth groaned and moaned, 
for the Princess was calling to him 
from the cave. The King had to hold 
him to prevent his rushing against 
the monster again; especially when 
the monster said over his shoulder 
(at any rate, over the top of one of 
his arms) to the maiden, 

“ ‘ I have not decided whether 
to devour you or to marry you,’ 
Princess. 

“ The Princess preferred being de- 
voured, but she dared not say so. 

“A crafty gleam lit the eyes of 
the merman. Stepping beyond the 

41 


THE PEARL 


waving arms of the monster, he 
spoke. 

“ ‘ The Princess is not so beauti- 
ful. In fact, to one who knows, she 
is really ugly.’ 

“ ‘ What? ’ roared the King. 

“ The merman silenced him with a 
look. 

“ ‘ Indeed,’ he continued, ‘ there 
are many things in the sea more 
beautiful and tasty than yonder mer- 
maid.’ 

“ ‘ Is that so? ’ snorted the mon- 
ster. ‘ Indeed, I have travelled more 
than you, and I know all the beauties 
of the sea. Nothing here is half so 
lovely as the Mermaid Princess.’ 

“ The merman agreed to this in 
his heart, but aloud he said, 

“ ‘ Oh, no. You are greatly mis- 
taken. I can show you.’ 

42 


the PEARL 


, “ ‘ Very well, then,’ sneered the 
monster. ‘ If you can bring to this 
cave an3d;hing more beautiful than 
the Mermaid Princess, I will trade 
her for it.’ 

“ The sea monster knew he was 
safe, for the Mermaid Princess was 
the loveliest thing in the sea. 

“ The King looked angrily at the 
merman. ‘Now, you have done it,’ 
he snarled. 

“ ‘ Surely, some of your treasures 
will tempt him,’ eagerly suggested 
the merman. ‘ Anyhow, it will give 
us time to find a way to rescue the 
Princess.’ 

“ ‘ Well, we can try,’ grumbled the 
King. 

“ Daily, as long as the treasures 
lasted, wonderful things were dis- 
played before the monster. He only 

43 


THE PEARL 



sneered, and turned away; while 
within the cave the Mermaid Prin- 
cess grew more terrified and more 
beautiful. The merman grew thin 
and haggard from his continual 
search through the sea lands for rare 
beauties. Finally, with desolate 
heart, he brought his beloved books. 
The monster sneered harder than 
ever. 

“ ‘ Ugly things! You dare to 
compare them with the Mermaid 
Princess! Away with them! One 
more chance is all you shall have. 
Produce your rare specimens, 
or tomorrow I devour the Prin- 
cess.’ 

“ Hugging his books, the merman 
went away in black despair. It was 
just then (as it so often happens) 
his inspiration came. 

44 


THE PEARL 


“ ‘ Perhaps/ he thought, ‘ perhaps 
the angels will help me.’ 

“With his Bible in his hands, he 
swam up and up, as he had never 
swum before, until he popped out 
into the air. It was soft and dark 
and warm all around him. Above 
his head, were many pin-pricks of 
light. 

“ He began his prayer, holding his 
Bible high. ‘ Oh, angels, I am but a 
poor creature of the sea, but I need 
your help. Come to me, I beg.’ 

“ The pin-pricks opened and shut 
as though they were doors, and the 
air around the merman was filled 
with wings, white and fiuttering; 
for the angels had heard, and had 
come. 

“ Balanced between two waves, he 
told his sad story. The angels lis- 

46 




THE PEARL 


tened. But because he was a mer- 
man, not a mortal with a soul, but 
an immortal of the sea, they could 
not help him. For this, they wept. 
Their tears fell like dewdrops into 
the sea. Because the sea was colder 
than the air, the tears hardened and 
sank. The merman sank, too, sad- 
dened beyond words. 

“ He lay for a long time on the 
bottom of the sea. He did not wish 
to move, for his heart was broken. 
He had tried everything in his power 
to save the Mermaid Princess, and 
he had failed. If she must die, he 
did not wish to live. Yet, through 
his despair, he noticed the tears still 
falling around him. Because they 
were the tears of angels they were 
pure white. In the salt sea water 
they had become lustrous; and 

46 



“SUDDENLY HE NOTICED THEIR UNUSUAL 
BEAUTY ” 








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THE PEARL 


though crystals, they were soft and 
smooth. 

“ He sat up and unthinkingly 
gathered a handful. Suddenly he 
noticed their unusual beauty, and a 
wild hope beat in his heart. Gather- 
ing as many as his two hands would 
hold, he sped to the cave of the 
monster. 

“ The monster was startled when 
he first beheld the shining things in 
the hands of the merman. He came 
forward, first from curiosity. Then, 
as he really loved beautiful things 
(though he always devoured them), 
he greatly desired the shining crys- 
tals. He ■ thought that if he ate 
enough beautiful things he would be- 
come beautiful himself. He wanted 
the crystals so much that he was 
even willing to give up the Mermaid 

47 


THE PEARL 




Princess for them; for he knew he 
could find other maidens, but the 
crystals were utterly different from 
anything he had ever seen. 

“ The merman placed the crystals 
quite a way from the cave; while the 
monster was devouring the stones, 
the merman rushed into the cave, 
gathered the Princess in his arms, 
and started for the Palace of the 
King. They had not gone far when 
they heard a terrible noise behind 
them, a sort of groaning and thrash- 
ing. Looking back, they saw the 
monster in his death-agony. You 
see, he was evil; and when he tried to 
eat the ‘ angel tears,’ which were so 
full of good, he was overcome. Re- 
joicing that they need no longer fear 
the monster, the Princess and the 
merman went on to the King. 

48 


THE PEARL 


“ The King was so happy to see 
his daughter once more that he pro- 
claimed her marriage to the merman 
at once. So, you see, they lived hap- 
pily ever after, and had many chil- 
dren and great wealth; for, of course, 
they gathered up all the rest of the 
‘ angel tears.’ Every one in the sea 
realized the great value of the shin- 
ing white stones. 


“ Years later, one ^of their sons, 
who was rather a naughty little fel- 
low, and too young to know the value 
of the ‘ angel tears,’ fed many of 
them to a flock of his pet oysters. 

“ Mortals captured some of these 
oysters, and so the ‘ angel tears ’ 
came to earth. Mortals, too, appre- 
ciated the ‘ angel tears ’ and valued 
them. But because they did not 

49 


THE PEARL 


know this story, nor the language of 
the sea people, they called them 
simply ‘ pearls.’ ” 


60 






The 

EMERALD 








• I 




T LAY dreaming one day on the 
good, green grass of the forest. 
Maybe, you, too, have done this. 
The trees above me waved gently 
to and fro; further up, the clouds, 
hardly troubling to move along, 
melted from one shape to another; 
far below, the river slipped lazily by. 
I was very comfortable and very 
still. 

Then I heard the discussion. 

“ That is my sunbeam,” said a 
tiny, tiny voice. 


53 


THE EMERALD 




“ Indeed, that is mine. Don’t you 
suppose I know what one I slid down 
on?” 

I looked down. I could see noth- 
ing. For a minute I entertained the 
wild idea that two blades of grass 
were about to have a fight; but 
every one knows that grass doesn’t 
go sliding around on sunbeams. I 
was puzzled. Then a beam of light 
slipped between the leaves over my 
head and dazzled my eyes. I blinked 
and put up my hand. 

“ Oh, oh. Do be careful,” said the 
tiny voice again. This time it was 
right in my ear. I was so astonished 
I jerked my hand away quickly. 
Seated on my finger was a tiny fairy, 
about as big as his voice. He was 
dressed in green from top to toe. 


64 


the emerald 

Pointed, curled slippers, pointed hat, 
and pointed face, and all in a green 
suit. 

“ You must be an Irish fairy,” said 
I, trying to be funny. 

“ That I am,” said he; and he 
swelled up until I feared he would 
burst. 

He didn’t seem a bit afraid, and 
as I felt like talking, especially to 
fairies, I thought perhaps if I was 
real pleasant he would tell me some 
of his lore. So I said, 

“ Are you one of the grass fair- 
ies? ” He did look for all the world 
like a blade of grass. 

Instead of pleasing him, this an- 
gered him. At first, I was afraid he 
might fly away, but instead, he be- 
gan to puff up again. His face got 
red, and then purple. I was getting 

55 


THE EMERALD 




worried, but I need not have troub- 
led, for just then another fairy flew 
forth. Dressed in green, too, this 
was a girl fairy. Her dress was so 
fluffy, and her wings were so gauzy, 
in fact, she was such a beautiful, 
dainty, lovely fairy, I wanted to 
carry her home and let her fly 
around my study. She would never 
have come, though. 

“Now, dear, do be careful,” she 
cautioned as she patted the hand of 
the other fairy. 

“ But did you hear? ” sputtered 
forth my first fairy. “ He called me, 
I mean us, grass fairies. Those 
common things! ” 

“ Ah, yes, but the grass fairies are 
beautiful and brave. No doubt he 
meant to be friendly. Why don’t 
you tell him who we are? ” 

56 


ilSf. ™E EMERALD 

“ Yes, do,” I pleaded. My curios- 
ity was aroused by this time. 

“ Why, sir,” — the fairy swelled 
again, this time with pride. He was 
the most inflatable fairy I ever 
knew — “ we are the fairies of the 
First Emerald.” 

“ First Emerald,” I stammered. 
“Why, there are thousands. How 
do you know which was the first? ” 

I saw them exchange glances of 
pity at my ignorance. 

“ Tell him,” she urged. 

“ Yes, do,” I added my appeal. 

We all settled comfortably, and 
this is what the fairy of the First 
Emerald told me. 

Years and years ago, before you 
and I had any thought of being bom, 
a tribe of people lived on a certain 

67 


pa^, THE EMERALD 

Island in the sea. They were a good 
people, that is, at first; and they 
were very wise, for they believed in 
fairies. 

They should have been very happy, 
for their Island was the most beauti- 
ful in all the whole wide world. 
Lakes lay around the island like 
huge drops of pearl and silver. They 
shimmered and shone and made 
every one happy who looked at them. 
Green grass and green trees grew 
everywhere; and around all was the 
beautiful, green sea. They grew to 
love green, and, in after years, it be- 
came their national color. 

One day, as one of the men was out 
walking, he accidentally kicked up a 
stone. He turned it over and over. 
It shone and sparkled, but it wasn’t 
green. For that reason, he knew it 

58 


, THE EMERALD ^ 
JiC kH 


didn’t belong on the Island. He put 
it away in his pocket. Had he left 
it there, all might have been well — 
but he didn’t. As soon as he was 
alone that night, he took the stone 
out of his pocket. He turned it over 
and over. The more he looked at it, 
the more lovely it seemed to him. 

Then a Leprechaun stepped up. 
Maybe you don’t know what a Lep- 
rechaun is. Never mind, only that he 
is a special kind of fairy that has 
always lived on this particular 
Island. 

“ Oh, there it is,” he said with vast 
relief. 

The Man quickly hid the stone. 

“Yes, here it is, and here it shall 
stay.” 

“ If you are wise,” said the Lep- 
rechaun, who knew a great many 

69 



THE EMERALD 


things, “you will drop it into the 
sea.” 

“ What? Drop this beautiful 
thing into the sea! Why? ” asked 
the Man. 

“ Because it is just that which will 
drive many of these people away 
from their Island. Maybe not now, 
but surely some day.” 

The Man looked at the Leprechaun 
and laughed. You see, he didn’t be- 
lieve that at all. 

“ Well,” the Man promised finally, 
“ I will drop it into the sea on one 
condition.” 

“ What is that? ” asked the Lep- 
rechaun, glad that the Man showed 
so much sense. 

But the Man was sly; shrewd, 
some called him. 

“ If I fulfil my side of the bargain 
60 



THE EMERALD 



by dropping this lump into the sea 
will you grant the condition? ” 

“ Surely/’ agreed the Leprechaun. 

“ Then, show me where I can find 
plenty more of it.” 

The Man thought himself very 
clever, and that he had the best of 
the Leprechaun. He was greatly 
mistaken, as he found out in later 
years. However, the Leprechaun 
had given his word about the yellow 
stone called gold, and he kept his 
promise. After the Man had 
dropped the lump into the sea the 
Leprechaun told him what he must 
do. 

The Man had to leave his green 
Island and go far, far away to an- 
other land. This other land was 
really an island, too, but it was such 
a large island that the people who 
61 



THE EMERALD 



lived on ft were insulted if you did 
not call it the world. 

The Man was shrewd, and he soon 
found much more of the yellow stuff, 
though it looked different to him, at 
first. Instead of being in a rock or 
lump, it was round and flat and hard. 
But it was yellow, and the Man still 
thought it was beautiful. The more 
he found and kept, the more he 
wanted. 

He wasn’t as happy or as comfort- 
able as he had been on the green 
Island, but he had plenty of the yel- 
low stuff. He remembered what the 
Leprechaun had said about his peo- 
ple leaving their green Island for the 
yellow stuff. This worried him, be- 
cause he knew how hard it was to 
And the yellow, and how much hap- 
pier every one was at home. So, to 
62 



THE EMERALD 




prevent their leaving, he took a big 
lot of the yellow gold, and started for 
the Island. As he found out later, 
this was the worst thing he could 
have done, but he really meant to be 
kind, at first. 

When he reached the green Island, 
he called many of his friends to- 
gether and gave them of the yellow. 
Some of them liked it, some of them 
did not. So there was a big fight 
between the yellow and the green 
followers. Their descendants still 
celebrate that fight once a year; but 
in these days they are ashamed of 
the true reason, so they say it is for 
another cause. 

Anyway, those who liked the yel- 
low wanted more, just as the Man 
had, himself. Then he saw what he 
had done. Some of the people fol- 

63 


THE EMERALD 



lowed him when he left the Island. 
He felt he had to help some of them 
find the gold. Very few were as 
successful as the Man, and they be- 
gan to hate him, though they still 
desired the gold. 

The Man kept returning to the 
Island every year, and every year 
the people grew worse. They forgot 
their green trees and grass, and 
their lovely pearl and silver lakes, 
and thought only of the yellow gold. 
More and more of them grew un- 
happy and greedy, until there was 
only one family on the Island who 
still loved the green and the fairies. 
For, you see, unless you keep your 
eyes on the cool green, you can’t see 
fairies. The yellow glistens so, it 
blinds every one. 

And the Man (he had another 

64 


THE EMERALD 




name, but it is better not told) was 
the worst of them all. He had so 
much of the yellow stuff he could 
hardly find a place to keep it. Then 
he found out the people would trade 
anything they owned for a little of 
the yellow. So, whenever he saw 
anything he wanted he merely dis- 
played a little of the gold, and the 
thing was his. As he grew older he 
grew more and more selfish and dis- 
contented. 

Then he saw Emerald. Of course 
he wanted her. Who was Emerald? 
She was the sweetest, loveliest — oh, 
we could talk forever, and not do her 
half justice — but anyway, she was a 
maiden who lived on the green 
Island. Every one loved her. That 
is, they had loved her and still did 
when they were not too busy think- 
65 



THE EMERALD 


ing about the gold. When they saw 
the Man wanted her they thought it 
would be splendid for Emerald to 
marry him; they knew they could 
then get more of his yellow. 

Every one thought it would be 
lovely, but Emerald. She loved a 
neighbor lad who was just beginning 
to get the yellow fever. He loved 
Emerald, too, but his eyes had been 
blinded by the glitter of the gold. 

I suppose you are wondering why 
Emerald wasn’t anxious for the yel- 
low, too. She was the only daughter 
of the family I told you about. Her 
mother and father were an old 
couple who greatly feared the yellow 
disease that made every one so un- 
happy and dissatisfied. In fact, they 
were the only ones on the whole 
Island who were not neglecting the 
66 




“THEY GATHERED A BUCKETFUL OF HER 




TEARS ” 


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fairies. When the Man tried to buy 
Emerald from her parents they 
would have nothing to do with him. 
Then he offered Emerald tons and 
tons of the yellow stuff, but you see, 
she was in love with Tim, the neigh- 
bor’s boy. But her parents worried 
and worried for fear she would catch 
the yellow fever. 

One night Emerald had a quarrel 
with the neighbor boy. She came 
home and wept and wept till her 
tears flooded the house. Then her 
folks were alarmed. 

“ For now,” they thought, “ she 
will listen to the Man of Gold.” 

Finally, however, they thought of 
a plan. When Emerald slept they 
gathered a bucketful of her tears 
and sped to the cave of the fairies. 

The cave was dark and deep, 

67 



the emerald ^ 

hidden between two high walls, but 
the old couple knew a secret en- 
trance. The fairies were holding a 
meeting of indignation. They were 
all there, every one of them, seated 
in a big circle around a fairy fire. 
The Leprechaun was in the middle, 
speaking angrily. He was telling 
them all about the first time he saw 
the Man, with the yellow lump, and 
how the Man had outwitted him. 
The old couple stepped up and set 
the bucket of tears at the feet of the 
Leprechaun. 

“ Oh, good Little People,” they 
begged, “ help us if you can.” Then 
they told everything that had hap- 
pened. 

“Just the thing,” cried the Lep- 
rechaun. 

The fairies began to dance in a 
68 


THE EMERALD 



circle around the bucket filled with 
tears. 

“You, Moonshine,” ordered the 
Leprechaun, “get another bucket 
and fill it with sea water.” 

“ Where will I find a bucket?” 
complained Moonshine. 

“ Borrow it from the Man.” The 
Leprechaun leaped in glee. “And 
you. Thimble Finger, go gather a 
handful of Sham Rock, so this will 
harden.” 

When they returned, the Lepre- 
chaun mixed and chanted while the 
fairies danced. The mixture was 
left to cool and harden in the dew, 
beneath the stars. Content, the old 
folks went home and slept. 

The next morning they went again 
to the Cave. They found a trans- 
parent substance on the ground, 

69 


THE EMERALD 




clear as sea water, lovely as green 
trees. 

“ Surely Emerald will not need all 
this for her eyesight,” they decided. 
So, as they found the substance was 
not yet hard, they broke it into many 
pieces, so they could give it to their 
friends. 

“ Be careful,” warned the Lepre- 
chaun. “ Only one piece will be any 
good to your daughter.” 

The couple were frightened. 

“ Which one? ” they asked. 

The Leprechaun showed them. 

“ But don’t worry. You will 
always be able to tell. So will Emer- 
ald and whoever she truly loves. It 
is a gift from the fairies in return 
for all you have done for us.” 

“ But we do not understand.” 

“ From Emerald’s tears,” ex- 
70 





“HE QUICKLY HID BEHIND A ROCK” 











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iSfe the emerald 

plained the Leprechaun, “we have 
made this stone. Whosoever pos- 
sesses it will overcome this yellow 
fever, and care only for true love. 
So, you see, you have something far 
better than the hard yellow gold. 
This biggest and loveliest piece shall 
be Emerald’s. As long as she has it, 
true love will come to her; and you 
need not fear the Man of Gold.” 

They all went away rejoicing, 
meaning to return when the Green 
was hard enough to handle. 

Now that was foolish, because the 
Man had been out early, looking for 
more gold, and he overheard every 
word. He quickly hid behind a rock 
when he saw them all leaving. He 
thought of a very wicked plan. He 
would steal Emerald’s piece of 
green, and throw it into the sea. 

71 


THE EMERALD 



Then no one could stop her from 
marrying him. 

Quietly he sneaked forth. He 
looked everywhere, but he couldn’t 
see any one. He tried to pick up 
Emerald’s piece of green, but it was 
so sticky and soft he couldn’t do it. 
He remembered what the Lepre- 
chaun said, and he was afraid he 
might not know the piece if he left; 
and yet he didn’t dare to stay for 
fear he might be caught. But he 
was clever, and at last he thought of 
a plan. He picked up a huge rock, 
and dropped it on Emerald’s piece. 
He didn’t break it, but he squashed 
and cracked it quite badly. So, any- 
way, he would know it, and could 
come back later. 

Well satisfied, he went to find 
Emerald’s parents. He thought he 

72 


^11^^ THE EMERALD 



would wait until he saw them start. 
Then he would run ahead, steal the 
piece, and have the fun of seeing 
them all look for it. 

He had forgotten about the Lepre- 
chaun. You know fairies can become 
invisible when they wish, and the 
Leprechaun had been standing right 
by the Man watching everything he 
did. Then the Leprechaun paid 
back the Man for what had happened 
years before. 

As soon as the Man saw Emerald 
and her parents start for the cave, 
he hurried on ahead. When he came 
to where the green stones lay he let 
forth a yell of anger. Oh, yes, the 
stones were all there, hard and nice. 
But — every — one — of — them — 
was — cracked. 

The Man began to hunt furiously, 

73 



THE EMERALD 



but he couldn’t tell Emerald’s piece. 
Then Emerald came and walked 
right to her own piece. The reason 
she could tell was because she saw 
Tim’s face reflected in the piece. 
Then she knew she loved him better 
than all the gold in the world. The 
Man saw he was outwitted, after all 
these years; and he went off in a 
rage and never troubled the Island 
any more. 

The people all came running to see 
what caused so much excitement. 
Tim, the neighbor boy, was first of 
all. As soon as he picked up a green 
stone he was cured of the yellow 
fever. As many as picked up stones 
began to see those they loved, and 
to remember the fairies. Altogether, 
it was such a joyous occasion that 
Emerald and Tim were married right 

74 


THE EMERALD 



then and there. The fairies served 
the wedding breakfast. 

The stones were named in honor 
of Emerald. And that is why all 
genuine emeralds have a crack or 
flaw in them. In later years, after 
this story became more widely 
known, the Island was called the 
Emerald Isle. 


“ How did you know all this? ” I 
asked the fairy. 

He smiled at the little girl fairy, 
reached over and took her hand. 

“We were mother and father of 
the lovely Emerald,” he said. 


76 





The 

DIAMOND 



7 


% 





“ 'T^HE end of the rainbow trail.” 

It hummed through Fred- 
erick’s head. What could his mother 
have meant? How queer, anyway. 
Rainbows only happened in summer, 
and here it was the middle of winter, 
with soft white snow piled every- 
where. “ Rainbow trail, rainbow 
trail.” Somehow it became tangled 
in Frederick’s brain. Then the 
moonbeams began to dance on the 
snow. 

“ What a beautiful, beautiful 

79 



THE DIAMOND 




night,” they sang. “ Who wants to 
come and join our dance? All you 
little children who love to play in the 
snow, we want to play with you.” 

They danced a merry jig up and 
down, up and down, till the poor old 
snowman had to close his button 
eyes; otherwise he would have be- 
come so dizzy as to fall down, and 
break all to pieces. 

Frederick jumped to the window 
and gazed out. His nose was 
pressed against the cold pane, his 
eyes were full of dreams, and his 
ears forgot the rainbow song, and 
began to hear the song of the moon- 
beams. 

“ Come out and dance. Come out 
and dance.” 

Now Frederick should have stayed 
in bed. Yes, indeed. His mother 
80 


THE DIAMOND 


had kissed him, turned out the lights, 
and said good night long ago; but 
he could not sleep. The rainbow 
trail had been too great a puzzle. 
What would he find at the end of it? 
Then the moonbeams began to sing. 
Perhaps they could tell, if they only 
would. 

“ But it is cold out there,” he chat- 
tered. 

“ No, it is not. Come and see.” 
One tiny moonbeam hopped up on 
the window-sill, turned a kerflop, 
and skipped back to join his mates. 
This was rather surprising, but, all 
things considered, Frederick was not 
greatly astonished. 

“ Come out and dance. Come out 
and dance.” Frederick found he 
was humming it to himself. 
Wouldn’t it be fun? 

81 


THE DIAMOND 


Up on the sill outside the window 
came a moon-smile, then two, then 
a dozen, then more and more, until 
the glass melted, and Frederick 
stood in their midst. 

“ Why, it isn’t cold a bit.” 

“ We told you so, we told you so. 
Now dance, dance, dance.” 

Frederick looked down at himself. 
Clad in a suit of silver grey, a silver 
feather in his cap, silver moccasins 
on his feet, he, too, looked like a 
moonbeam. The moccasins were 
strangest of all; for he lifted first 
one foot, and then the other, and as 
if by magic, he had fiown from the 
window to the ground. Catching a 
moonbeam in each hand, he danced 
until he was breathless. Tired out, 
he went over by the snowman to rest. 
As he sat there, one sad, lonely little 
82 


THE DIAMOND 


moonbeam came and perched on his 
hand. 

“ Who are you? ” asked Frederick. 

“ I am the moonbeam that paints 
the rainbow. And Fve lost it. I’ve 
lost it.” 

Frederick was excited. Here was 
the rainbow trail again. What it 
had to do with moonbeams he did not 
know. 

“ What have you lost? ” Surely, it 
could not be the rainbow. 

“ Hush,” said the elf, looking 
around. “ No one must know. 
Come, see if you can help me find it.” 

“ Maybe it is at the end of the 
rainbow trail,” suggested Frederick. 

The elf turned positively green. 

“What — what is at the end of 
the rainbow trail? ” he screamed. 

“ I don’t know,” stammered Fred- 

83 


iir. the diamond aa 

erick, “ but you said you lost some- 
thing, and I thought you might find 
it there.” 

The elf calmed down. “ You 
frightened me. It is a great treas- 
ure I guard at the end of the rain- 
bow trail. But I can never see it 
again unless I find what I have lost. 
Help me, and I will show you the 
treasure. Only hurry.^’ 

“All right, ni help,” said Fred- 
erick. “ But I haven’t the least idea 
what I am to look for.” 

“We may have to travel a long, 
long way, so I will fix you a pair of 
wings. Then I will tell you more 
about us moonbeams.” 

He grasped Frederick by the hand, 
and pulled him behind a big oak. 
Frederick stopped in amazement. 
He had been rolling snowballs there 

84 


THE DIAMOND 

in the afternoon, but now the snow 
was all melted. Moss and grass cov- 
ered the spot, soft and green. The 
little fellow at his side stooped sud- 
denly, and gathered a handful of 
cobwebs. He waved them back and 
forth, until they grew and grew, 
gradually assuming the shape of 
wings; then he tossed them into the 
air. They hovered a moment before 
settling on Frederick’s shoulders. 
The elf hopped nimbly up, caught the 
wings by the tips, and sprinkled dew 
over them. 

“ Make them strong, make them 
beautiful,” he chanted. For a min- 
ute the wings darkened. Then Mr. 
Moonbeam smiled, and forth shone 
the wings, glistening silver, with 
here and there a touch of green. 

“ Make them useful, make them 

85 


THE DIAMOND 




warm,” he chanted. He dusted them 
with his cap until the side next to 
Frederick was covered with down 
like the softest velvet. 

“ Make them swift,” he cried, and 
sprang into the air. Frederick fol- 
lowed with ease. After his first gasp 
of surprise he decided it was more 
fun than even tobogganing. 

“ Now,” cried the elf, “ give me 
your hand, and close your eyes 
tight.” 

As Frederick did so, he felt a rush 
of cold air, but the wings remained 
firm and steady. He had the sensa- 
tion of moving up, up through space, 
until his feet suddenly rested on solid 
ground. He opened his eyes, and 
found himself at the entrance of a 
golden palace. 

“ See, little boy, it is from here 
86 


THE DIAMOND 




that all moonbeams start on their 
duties. Inside is our beautiful 
queen. When a moonbeam comes 
for orders, she smiles, and then he 
knows exactly what he must do. 
Come, we will see her.” 

When Frederick knelt before the 
queen he expected to see her smile. 
But she did not. She spoke to him 
with a voice as soft as moonlight on 
a summer forest. 

“ Come, little boy, and stand be- 
side me. You shall see what you 
shall see.” 

Frederick went forward, and stood 
beside the throne. The queen was 
looking straight before her. Fred- 
erick looked also. The room around 
him seemed to melt, and a thousand 
tiny paths led from the foot of the 
throne, down, down, down out of 

87 


THE DIAMOND 

sight. As he looked, though no one 
spoke, he seemed to know the reason 
for all these paths. Over them the 
moonbeams travel. Some go to light 
the desert sands, more to dance be- 
fore the sick and bring them pleas- 
ure, still others bringing refreshing 
thoughts and dreams to tired brains. 
The elf came and stood beside Fred- 
erick. 

“ Here,” he pointed, " is my path.” 

The fairy must have been impor- 
tant, for his path was somewhat 
wider than the others, and stretched 
far, far away. At the very end there 
seemed to be a deep pool, all quiet. 
The path, instead of being straight 
like the others, rose in a curved arch. 
All the long, long way to the pool 
seemed hot and dusty. 

“ Come, we must haste,” cried the 
88 


THE DIAMOND 


elf, “ or the pool will dry, and we 
can never again have rainbows.” 

Together, they knelt before the 
Queen. She smiled at the elf, and 
somehow in the smile Frederick 
seemed to see himself reflected. 
Then the smile faded, a mist cleared 
from her eyes, and she bade them go. 
They arose and started along the 
path. 

“ Oh, look, Mr. Moonbeam,” sud- 
denly cried Frederick. “ I have 
found a poor little bird with a broken 
wing.” 

“ He is on the wrong path. I can 
not help him without my wand.” 

“ Well, if you can’t And your old 
wand the bird shall have my wings.” 

Scarcely had Frederick spoken 
than the elf stumbled. Stooping, he 
picked up a yellow stick. Turning, 

89 


THE DIAMOND 

he touched the bird in Frederick’s 
hand. Away it flew, dropping back 
its song of thanksgiving.” 

“ What an ugly stick! ” said Fred- 
erick, as soon as he had recovered 
from his astonishment. 

“Aye, so it is now, but it is my 
precious wand. That was what I 
had lost. But now we must hurry 
to the pool.” 

As they hurried along, Frederick 
saw on one side of the path a poor, 
lame child. 

“ Please, Mr. Elf, can’t I help 
him? ” 

“ To help, you must give him your 
moccasins. Remember the path is 
hard and long.” 

Frederick walked on a few steps. 
The elf’s wand seemed to grow 
homelier and smaller. On sudden 
90 


the diamond ^ 

impulse, Frederick turned and ran 
back. He sat down, pulled off his 
moccasins, and handed them to the 
lame boy. 

“ Here, you take them,” he said 
bashfully. “I like to go barefoot, 
anyway.” 

The little lame boy put on Fred- 
erick’s moccasins and stood straight 
and strong. He smiled and smiled 
at Frederick. As he stood smiling 
he changed into a golden butterfly 
which lifted shimmering wings and 
flew away. 

“ I am glad, though, because he 
seemed so happy,” thought Fred- 
erick as he caught up to the elf. 
“Why, what has happened to your 
wand? ” he asked in amazement. 
The wand shimmered and shone with 
a lustre like that in the wings of the 

91 


THE DIAMOND 




lame boy butterfly. As Frederick 
looked at the wand somehow he for- 
got how hard and rough the road 
was. 1 

“ But, Mr. Elf, I am very hungry.” 

“ Help yourself.” 

Glancing down, Frederick saw a 
delicious-looking piece of bread, with 
butter and jam on it, and he did 
love jam. As he raised it to his 
lips, an old man stepped before 
him. 

“ I am hungry, too. Please may I 
have a bite? ” 

“ Take it all,” said Frederick, gen- 
erously. 

From his side came a tinkling 
laugh of joy. He looked at his 
friend, the elf. Mr. Moonbeam was 
not laughing, but his face seemed 
flooded with happy light. 

92 


THE DIAMOND 


“ Where does the light come 
from? ” 

“ From my wand.” 

Really, the wand seemed to 
have grown brighter even as the 
moon peeping through clouds. Over 
its surface played little iridescent 
shadows of green and blue. 

The way grew hot and dusty. The 
heat burned Frederick’s feet, the 
dust parched his throat. Still they 
plodded on. 

Finally, “ Can’t we use our 
wings? ” 

“ No, not here.” 

Frederick was about to revolt but 
stopped when he looked at the elf’s 
face. 

“ Please, could I have a drink, 
then? ” 

“ Certainly.” 


93 


THE DIAMOND 




The elf pointed to a clear, cold 
spring, bubbling at the road’s edge. 
He handed Frederick a cup. Fred- 
erick filled it to the brim, and pre- 
pared to take a cooling drink. As 
he did so, something rubbed against 
his bare feet. He looked down upon 
a poor little dog whose eyes begged 
for water. 

“ Poor, poor little doggie,” he 
said; and put the cup down for the 
dog to drink first. 

As he did so, dog, cup and spring 
all melted away. 

“Now, indeed, have I found it,” 
cried the elf. 

He held up his wand. Sparkling, 
glowing, red, yellow, blue, gold, pink 
— every color known shone and 
danced and fiashed on the once 
homely stick. 


94 



“THEY LANDED RIGHT IN THE POOL” 



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IJIL 


THE DIAMOND 



“ See, we have reached the summit 
of the rainbow trail. Look back, 
Frederick.” 

Frederick did so. Though the 
path had seemed ugly, hot, and dusty 
when he passed over it, now it shim- 
mered and shone like the elf’s wand 
with myriad shades of purple, blue 
and gold. 

“ Why, it looks like a rainbow! ” 

“ That is what it is,” laughed the 
elf. “ And there at the other end is 
the treasure. Come on, we will 
slide.” 

“ Your old treasure is nothing but 
a pool — ” Frederick started to say, 
but the words were choked in his 
throat. 

Splash! They landed right in the 
pool. Spray flew on all sides. 
Laughing and dripping, they climbed 

95 


Bae the diamond 

to the bank. On all sides of them 
the dew drops lay perfect, not melted 
as water drops generally are. 

“Why,” cried Frederick, “they 
look like diamonds! ” 

“ That’s what they are. Some 
people say there is a pot of gold at 
the end of the rainbow trail, but they 
are wrong. It is a pool of diamonds. 
They are all white now, but look — ” 
He waved his wand. Just as the 
dusty road had changed to rainbow 
colors, so now the drops of water 
sparkled and shone and shed colors 
of purest radiance, blue, green, yel- 
low and purple. 

“ But how did you lose your 
wand? ” asked Frederick. 

“ I lost my wand because I was 
ignorant and blind. My wand is 
called ‘ Belief in Human Nature.’ It 

96 


THE DIAMOND' 


is that, and that only, which makes 
all things beautiful. You do not un- 
derstand now, but you will some 
day. Now you must fly home; but 
you may take as many diamonds as 
you wish.” 

So, Ailing his pockets, and lifting 
his wings, Frederick flew home to tell 
his mother what really lies at the end 
of the rainbow trail. 


97 







The 

TOPAZ. 






'■["'HE chest was one of marvellous 
design. Jimmy used to often 
sit and wonder about it. When he 
had asked about it, his grandfather, 
a queer, weazened old man, had 
only grunted. Jimmy, who always 
stood greatly in awe of this grand- 
father, proceeded no further with his 
, questions. But he still wondered 
about that chest. 

He had come across it one rainy 
afternoon while he was playing in 
the attic. It was tucked away in a 
101 


THE TOPAZ 


dark corner under the eaves. Jimmy 
had dragged it forth, covered as it 
was with webs and dust. Though 
heavy, it was not large. It appar- 
ently was meant to open, for there 
were tiny hinges on the back; but, 
try as he would, Jimmy could not 
raise the cover, nor could he find a 
lock of any sort. Baffled, he sat and 
studied the exterior. Squatted on 
top was an old man, with an elfish 
grin on his huge mouth, which 
seemed ready to speak. His long 
arms reached before him, and his 
clasped hands dropped over the edge, 
forming a handle with which to lift 
the cover — provided it lifted. 
Long, flowing hair dropped down his 
back, and spread over the top and 
sides in many intricate curls and 
twists. Truly, it was a weird figure, ' 
102 


THE TOPAZ ^ 

one to fire the imagination. Stran- 
gest of all to Jimmy was the fact that 
the wood beneath the hands of the 
figure was a light yellow, almost 
the color of maple, while the rest of 
the chest was dark oak or mahogany. 
He examined closely and discovered 
that wherever the heavy hair did not 
completely cover the surface the 
same yellow wood was apparent. 

Was it any wonder that questions 
irritated Jimmy’s mind, especially 
since his grandfather had merely 
grunted upon mention of the chest? 
Many of Jimmy’s questions had 
formerly elicited stories of strange 
adventures; for grandfather had 
travelled extensively. But the box 
was still a profound mystery. 
Jimmy pondered a few minutes, and 
then went to the attic for another 

103 



THE TOPAZ 



try at the unlifted cover. He 
dragged the box forth, and squatted 
before it. He tugged and tried and 
investigated with all his boyish, 
active mind. The contents of the 
box were still secret. He flopped on 
to his back, his head resting against 
the Old Man of Wood, and tried to 
think. The light from the window 
flooded against his own golden hair 
and completed the picture. 

Through his thoughts a tiny voice 
began to speak. 

“ Press them together. Press 
them together,” it seemed to say 
over and over again. 

“Why, of course. How stupid I 
am,” thought Jimmy. 

He sat up and caught the two 
hands of the Man of Wood. Gently 
he pressed them. Tiny hidden 

104 



THE TOPAZ 



hinges permitted the wrists to 
bend, bringing the hands together 
against a tiny hidden spring. The 
cover opened with a loud creak- 
ing and cracking that ended in a 
laugh. 

“ Ha, ha, ha. Now, you have done 
it.” 

Jimmy rubbed his eyes. 

The Old Man of Wood, with his 
hands freed, was gathering up 
strand after strand of hair as though 
in a great hurry. As each strand 
was lifted, a soft, mellow glow 
spread from beneath it. So aston- 
ished was Jimmy that he could only 
sit and stare, forgetting completely 
to look inside the box. 

“ I am going away now,” cackled 
the Old Man of Wood, “ and when 
your grandfather finds out, won’t he 

105 


THE TOPAZ 



be furious? I should say you had 
done it! ” 

“You are not going away! ” 
stormed Jimmy, suddenly coming to 
life. 

“ Ha, ha. You just watch me,” 
grinned the Old Man, still busily 
gathering strands of hair. 

Jimmy wondered afterward how 
he had sense enough to do it, but in 
his despair he caught hold of a few 
of the remaining wisps of hair. 

“You sha’n’t go away. I’ll hold 
on to this, and call until grandpa 
comes.” 

The Old Man tried to jerk the hair 
from the boy’s fingers, but Jimmy 
held fast. Then, furious, the Old 
Man began to scream and yell and 
jump up and down on top of the box. 
Still Jimmy clung to the hair. See- 
106 


THE TOPAZ 




ing this did him no good, the Old 
Man quieted down, and craftily ap- 
proached Jimmy. 

“Look,” he said, pointing, 
“ wouldn’t you like to be small 
enough to go down there? ” 

Jimmy looked. Inside the box 
were miniature forests and vales and 
hills, and tiny, tiny people flying in 
all directions. Flooding all was the 
same soft yellow light he had noticed 
beneath the Old Man’s hair. 

Jimmy thought he pretty much 
would like to go down and see what 
it was all about, and he nearly said 
so; but he saw the Old Man smile. 
Then he bethought himself. How 
could he ever hold the Old Man if he 
himself were so tiny. Gruffly he 
swung the Old Man around and 
caught one of his hands. 

107 


THE TOPAZ 


“ Oh, oh, oh,” screamed the Old 
Man, “do be careful! It might 
break off, and then I would be use- 
less. Oh, oh! ” 

“ What will break off? Your 
hand? Oh, ho! Now then, I would 
like very much to go into the box. 
Do as I say, or I break your hand.” 

“ You are cruel,” groaned the Old 
Man. “ Sire, I do your bidding.” 

“ Then,” commanded Jimmy, in a 
lordly voice, “ first make yourself 
small enough to go down, and then 
me. Wait a minute,” he cautioned 
as the Old Man began to speak. He 
whipped out his jack-knife and cut 
one of the Old Man’s hairs. This 
he fastened, and dropped over the 
edge of the box. “Now,” he said. 

Suddenly things shot up on all 
sides. He and the Man of Wood had 
108 



THE OLD MAN” 


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IM. TOPAZ ^ 

apparently not changed. They were 
sitting on a broad plateau. Near 
his side was a heavy rope. This 
dropped a dizzy distance to a field 
many miles below. Jimmy wondered 
how they would ever reach the bot- 
tom. This problem was solved when 
the Old Man grasped the rope and 
began to slide. Jimmy hesitated, 
for he knew how badly ropes can 
burn the hands. But the Old Man 
was fast disappearing from sight. 
In desperation, Jimmy caught the 
rope and swung himself off the box. 
To his surprise and delight, the rope 
was as smooth as silk, and the slid- 
ing sensation was like flying. He 
enjoyed it so much that it was with 
regret that he stopped abruptly, 
almost on top of the Old Man. 

“ Be more careful, can’t you? ” he 

109 



^ THE TOPAZ 


growled. He was not a very polite 
Old Man. 

Jimmy did not reply. He was too 
busy looking around. Near the field 
towered a huge forest. Two things 
Jimmy noticed immediately. Every- 
thing was hard, and everything was 
yellow. A light similar to moonlight 
filled the place, poured itself over 
everything and out beyond the top 
of the box. Jimmy wondered if this 
had anything to do with the yellow 
wood he had noticed beneath the 
hands of the Old Man. 

As he walked along a hard yellow 
path with the Old Man he saw many 
persons hurrying by in every direc- 
tion. Some of them were queer 
gnomes with parchment skin, yellow 
faces and hands; while others were 
quite the most beautiful beings 
110 



THE TOPAZ 


Jimmy had ever seen. Dressed in 
downy yellow, with golden hair, and 
wings of moonlight, they flitted 
here and there, very busy over 
nothing. But the gnomes (which 
were not unlike Jimmy’s companion) 
had a strange unaccustomed grin on 
their faces, while the little fairies 
seemed sad, for some unknown 
reason. 

Jimmy turned to the Old Man of 
Wood. He seemed to be the great- 
grandfather of all these people. 
Jimmy felt sure he could answer 
questions, as many questions as 
Jimmy could ask, and that was a 
great many. 

“ Please,” he said, “ tell me all 
about this wonderful country. Why 
are the bad people so glad? Why 
are the fairy people so sad? ” 

111 


THE TOPAZ 




The Old Man cackled in quite a 
disagreeable way. 

“ Bad people, indeed! My people 
are the good people, and they are 
merely exacting toll from those silly 
little flittergibbets.” 

“ I don’t understand,” complained 
Jimmy. 

The Old Man cackled again, and 
rubbed his hands together, though 
very carefully. 

“ Long years ago,” he told Jimmy, 
“ our people ruled this land. We 
were not beautiful, but we were 
very strong. We made life miser- 
able for these silly fellows. But we 
lost our power, and these good fel- 
lows,” here he sneered at one of 
the pretty fairies, “took away our 
throne. They put us to work, say- 
ing we could dig in the mines, and 
112 


THE TOPAZ 


they would polish. They said that 
was what we were each fit for. In 
some mysterious way they were more 
powerful than we. Some say they 
found the golden sceptre; but that 
is another story. However, we had 
to do as they said. So now we dig 
and toil and sweat, while they fly 
around and have an easy life.” 

“But the ugly fellows look so 
much more able to dig,” answered 
Jimmy, who was glad in his heart 
that things had turned out so. 

“We are, but we used to make 
them work. Ugh! How we hate the 
good, silly things! We can still make 
them miserable, though.” 

“ How? ” cried Jimmy. 

“ You see,” explained the Old Man 
of Wood, “this country is where 
the precious stone known as the 

113 



THE TOPAZ 



topaz is made. My people dig down 
deep into the earth. They bring up 
a lot of brown hard stuff, but it has 
much pure yellow in it. They carry 
and drag this stuff for miles, to 
Boiling Lake. They dump it in, and 
let it boil for a while. Then the yel- 
low comes to the top. We skim it off, 
let it cool in the moonlight, and you 
have the pale yellow topaz. Then 
our friends here come with their soft 
wings, and rub the stones until they 
shine and glow like hardened moon- 
light.” 

“ That is all very wonderful,” said 
Jimmy, “but I still do not see how 
you have your revenge on the beauti- 
ful little ones.” 

“ This country has no industry but 
the making of topaz. The fairies 
fly away on dark nights, and ex- 
114 



change the moonlight topaz for 
whatever they need or want. Your 
grandfather knows all right. He is 
a wise man not to let you look into 
the box. If the stones were not 
made, the fairies could not have 
what they need to live on. So we 
tell them that to keep the gems 
beautiful they must make one of 
their beautiful daughters jump into 
Boiling Lake. One every year we 
demand. We tell them we used to 
do it, and if they do not the Lake 
will stop boiling. That is all a lie, 
of course, but they do not know 
that. Tonight is the night. That 
is why I was so anxious to get 
here.” 

But he finished his story to empty 
air. Thoroughly disgusted, Jimmy 
had run away, ashamed to be seen 
116 


THE TOPAZ 



in the company of such a horrible 
Old Man of Wood. 

He ran and ran, until, out of 
breath, he sank to rest in a cool 
piece of woodland. He wondered 
and wondered about the yellow light 
everywhere, pure light, glowing, 
soft, mysterious, coming from all 
sides. He supposed that was what 
stained the box yellow beneath the 
hands and hair of the Old Man of 
Wood. 

“ Where does the yellow light 
come from? ” he asked. Not that he 
expected an answer; he was merely 
a boy with the question habit. 

“ From the topaz stones, of course, 
silly boy,” came the answer in a soft 
voice. 

Jimmy jumped up, and looked 
everywhere, but no one was to be 
116 


THE TOPAZ 



seen. A soft, tinkling laugh came 
from over his head. He glanced up 
and beheld the most bewitchingly 
lovely fairy he had ever seen. Her 
dress shone like spun gold, her 
wings waved gently in the summer 
breeze, and her eyes brimmed with 
laughter. 

“ Come down here and talk to me,” 
commanded Jimmy. He was begin- 
ning to like the feeling of ordering 
people around. 

“ You needn’t be so rude about 
it,” Little Miss Fairy replied haugh- 
tily. But she came. 

Had Jimmy been his normal size. 
Little Miss Fairy would have been 
about as big as his thumb; but since 
he had shrunk, she was nearly as 
large as he. 

“Tell me about your wonderful 

117 


THE TOPAZ 


country? ” This time he asked, not 
commanded. 

“ It is so lovely here. We sing and 
dance, and work and have huge ban- 
quets in the moonlight. All is lovely 
except one night each year.” She 
covered her face and shuddered. 

“ What happens then? ” asked 
Jimmy, although he thought he 
knew. 

“ Do you see that fine black line 
across the middle of the sky? That 
is called the zenith. When the moon 
crosses that on a certain night each 
year one of us must jump into Boil- 
ing Lake. If we do not, the Lake 
will stop boiling, and we can never 
make a topaz again.” 

“ That’s a lie,” said Jimmy hotly. 

“ Hush,” cried the fairy, “ what 
was that? ” 


118 



THE TOPAZ 


From afar came weeping and wail- 
ing. Slowly and dismally, a proces- 
sion of fairies came into view, 
headed by one quite old fairy. They 
drew nearer and nearer. The little 
fairy grew whiter and whiter. 

“ My child, my child,” sobbed the 
old fairy as he came up, “ you have 
been chosen for tonight.” 

The fairy flew to Jimmy. 

“ Save me, save me,” she cried, 
clinging to him. “ There is a legend 
that says some day a stranger will 
come to break the spell. You must 
be he.” 

Jimmy stood up to his full brave 
six inches. 

“ I will save you,” he promised. 

A strange crowd gathered around 
the rim of Boiling Lake that night to 
watch while the moon slowly climbed 

119 


THE TOPAZ 


the skies. Jimmy stood near the 
fairy. His eyes were fixed on the 
zenith. 

One edge of the moon had touched 
the zenith when two guards ap- 
proached. They led forth the fairy. 
She stood in a trance, seeing no 
possible means of escape, yet some- 
how trusting Jimmy. The moon 
shone full on her face. Behind her 
lay deep woods, emerald green and 
silver in the moonlight. At her feet 
lay the yellow, boiling, hissing lake, 
yet moonlight had touched and made 
that beautiful, too. Every one was 
looking at the moon. 

Every one except Jimmy, that is. 
He suddenly darted forward, and 
knocked the two guards down. Up- 
roar prevailed. He pushed and 
kicked in all directions. Luckily for 
120 




THE TOPAZ 




him, guns were unknown in topaz 
land. 

“ Fly! fly! ” he called to the fairy. 

“ See,” he laughed suddenly in the 
midst of all the excitement. “ The 
moon has passed the zenith and the 
lake still boils. The gnomes lied.” 

On all sides arose a hoarse, angry 
shout. Surging through the crowd 
came line after line of gnome guard, 
angry and threatening. But Jimmy 
stood his ground. As they came 
near, he snapped their hands to- 
gether, which he found to his great 
joy were like those of the Old Man 
of Wood. 

It was a splendid flght. Jimmy 
enjoyed it until he saw the Old Man 
himself come rushing toward him. 
Jimmy made a lunge for the wooden 
hands, but missed them. The Old 
121 


THE TOPAZ 



Man raised them high above his head 
with a scream. Jimmy side-stepped 
to miss that descending stroke, and 
— felt himself in Boiling Lake. He 
seemed to hear the grateful voice of 
the little fairy as he went down, 
down, gasping and struggling. 
Then he began to rise, slowly, with a 
struggle and a gasp — he was lying 
full size, in the attic with his head on 
the wooden chest. He rubbed his 
eyes and looked around. His grand- 
father was just coming up the stairs. 

Could it be possible, do you sup- 
pose, that Jimmy dreamed all that? 
He insists it was not a dream; for he 
saw the Old Man of Wood, with a 
horrible grin on his face, settle into 
place on the box. 

Another thing. His grandfather 
leaned down and touched a spring 
122 


THE TOPAZ 




between the hands of the Old Man 
of Wood. The box flew open, dis- 
closing every kind and variety of the 
moonlight stone, the topaz. Some 
were rough or uncut, and some were 
highly polished. They were all sizes 
and shapes, sending forth a yellow 
glow like the moonlight on the face of 
the little Fairy he had saved from 
Boiling Lake. 


THE END. 












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